The present invention relates to a dispenser and a method for dispensing a product with the dispenser. The dispenser could be used to dispense a variety of different types of products, such as cosmetic products, vaccines, drugs, and hormones.
Products intended for mass consumption, particularly cosmetic products, are promoted through distribution of free samplers or trial amounts thereof. It is preferred to have the sampler resemble the product on sale as closely as possible, with respect to the formula, the scent, the texture, the galenic form, the packaging, and the outer packaging. For reasons of economy, manufacturers continually seek to produce samplers containing the smallest possible amount of product. Of course, the packaging of cosmetic products in single doses is attractive for travel, as this type of packaging uses very little luggage space.
Although it is known to prepare small-sized product packaging for products contained in pressurized containers, the economic criterion for such packaging is presently not being met. This is because most conventional, small, pressurized containers normally require a certain number of indispensable elements in order to function, namely: a container body, which is a can made of tin plate, aluminum or iron, a valve crimped on the neck of the container body via a dished valve-holder part, and a dispensing means connected to the valve. The container body is typically coated with a lacquer or varnish which sometimes interacts adversely with products intended to be dispensed. In some cases, the metal material used to fashion the container body increases the overall weight of each dispenser.
The containers of most conventional pressurized dispensers are only designed to store products having a pressure of up to 18 to 20 bars. Although this pressure resistance is sufficient for some uses, extremely high temperatures in certain areas sometimes necessitate a dispenser capable of withstanding even greater pressure. For example, dispensers for sun products are often exposed to extremely high temperatures, increasing the risk of possible container explosion or leakage.
Conventional techniques for manufacturing pressurized dispensers do not provide dispensers which are small enough to correspond to the volume of a trial dose, which is approximately 3.5 ml to 8 ml. This is because the work of crimping the metal, i.e. crimping the valve-holder dished part on to the container body, on the one hand, and around the valve, on the other hand, which consists in forcing the metal to adopt a desired configuration, in particular to grip on to the valve, is work which can be done only on parts which are sufficiently large. This manufacturing constraint, therefore, dictates the minimum size of the dished valve-holder part, and, hence, the volume of a can which is necessarily greater than a one-use dose.
Furthermore, the operations for fashioning conventional dispensers are expensive, as is the incorporation of a valve into the can. Manufacturing of conventional aerosol dispensers can be a long process, involving two suppliers, one for the valve and one for the container. These separate parts are often shipped to a location where product is introduced into the container and the valve is mounted to the container before filling the container with a pressurizing gas via the valve. Such a process can make it difficult and expensive to produce a sterile device.
A valve is usually one of the elements which is indispensable to the operation of conventional pressurized containers. In order to solve this problem, use of a can made of a thermoplastic instead of metal has been envisaged. However, this approach is also very expensive since the high internal pressure caused by the gaseous propellant necessitates the use of very thick plastic in order to impart sufficient rigidity.
The crimping of the valve to the neck of the can requires the neck and the valve to have a special shape. It is, therefore, necessary to use a valve which is designed for external crimping, and which is, therefore, more expensive than a standard valve. External crimping has to be carried out on a perfectly even surface, which is to say a surface with no trace of parting line or mould release line. Thus, the cans sometimes must be manufactured by an injection blow-molding technique, which is expensive when a large number of units are produced.
Conventional pressurized devices consist of a container body on which a cap may be fitted; crimped to the neck of this container by means of a dished valve-holder part is a valve; a dispensing means is connected to the valve; the container body and the dished part define a reservoir cavity; the valve consists of a valve body, of a valve-control stem which passes through the valve body, of a seal, and of a return system which presses the valve-control stem against the seal, with all of the above being held in place by the crimping of the valve-holder dished part; and the valve-control stem is surmounted by a push-button. Arranged in the container body are a product to be dispensed and a propulsion means therefor. The propulsion means may be a compressed gas in direct contact with the product in the container body. In this case, a dip member may be fixed to the valve. When it is not desired that the product be in contact with the gas, the gas and the product may be separated by a flexible bag or using a piston. When a flexible bag is used, problems sometimes arise regarding compatibility with the formula and solidity of the material of which the bag is made. The bag is preferably both flexible and leak-tight. When a piston is used for separating the gas from the product, problems may be encountered because of the seal along the contacting surfaces of the piston and of the internal wall of the container body. Furthermore, in both cases, the gas-filler orifice is usually distinct from the one for the formula, i.e. filling with gas often takes place through an orifice situated at the bottom of the container and this orifice is then closed off by a rubber bung. This configuration usually requires repeated operations during manufacture, namely opening the gas-filler orifice, installing the bag or the piston, and fitting the bung. It also may be expensive because of the complexity of the filling process, i.e. requiring filling first with product and then with gas.
EP-A-0561292 discloses dispensing devices using, as propulsion means, a closed-cell cellular material. A gas is held captive in the cells of the cellular material. This document describes a device in which the product is placed in a flexible bottle, inside the container body. The cellular material is placed in this container body in contact with and on the outside of the flexible bottle. The cellular material is connected to a thumb wheel. Before the valve is actuated using a push-button, energy must be stored in the cellular material by actuating a thumb wheel. The gas contained in the cellular material is then placed under mechanical pressure and this pressure is transmitted to the bottle and to its contents. Thus, by actuating the valve, the product can then be dispensed.
However, such a device has numerous drawbacks. For example, this device has a large number of component parts, which component parts require a very fine compatibility (screw threads, leak-tightness) and are, moreover, sophisticated. Consequently, such a device is quite expensive. The storage of energy by mechanical compression of the cellular material takes place in small quantities and the user must turn a thumb wheel in order to store up the energy corresponding to approximately one dose before actuating the push-button. The required two-part action makes the device complicated and not very attractive for consumers with little available time. The bottle in which the product is contained has the shape of a bellows and so, even if it is compressed as much as possible under the action of the cellular material, such a bottle cannot be completely emptied and a low restitution ratio will be obtained.
When energy is stored in the element made of cellular material by turning the thumb wheel, a strong osmotic pressure is created across the wall of the bottle. Thus, the wall of this bottle, subjected to an alternating movement through the mechanical action of the cellular material, is weakened by excessively frequent use. The same problem of compatibility of the product with the wall of the bottle is encountered with this device as is encountered in the case where use is made of a flexible bag for separating a gas from the product. Furthermore, if the user inadvertently exerts too strong an action on the thumb wheel, the cellular material will be subjected to a pressure which causes the cells containing the gas to burst and thereby cause irreversible damage the device. Finally, such a device does not allow the bottle to be filled with product through the valve, pressurizing the cellular material, because this mechanical compression will also result in a bursting of the cells, rendering the device unusable.
The present invention is directed to a dispenser and method of dispensing that optionally obviate one or more of the limitations of the related art. As embodied and broadly described herein, one aspect of the invention includes a dispenser for a product. The dispenser may comprise an upper element and a lower element, the upper element and the lower element being configured to cooperate together so that both the upper element and the lower element form a reservoir and a valve cavity. A product is contained in the reservoir, and the dispenser further comprises a valve including the valve cavity formed by the upper and lower elements, an inlet passage for providing flow of the product from the reservoir to the valve, an outlet passage for providing flow of the product from the valve to a dispensing outlet of the dispenser, and a movable valving member configured to be moved from a closed position to an open position to enable flow of the product through the dispensing outlet.
In another aspect, there is a dispenser comprising a dispensing outlet on an upper portion of the dispenser; an upper element and a lower element, the upper element and the lower element both defining a reservoir; a product contained in the reservoir; and a valve including a movable valving member configured to be moved from a closed position to an open position to enable flow of the product through the dispensing outlet, and a biasing member biasing the valving member toward the closed position, the biasing member being in contact with the lower element.
In a further aspect, the dispenser comprises a reservoir; a product contained in the reservoir; and a valve including a valve cavity, an inlet passage in fluid communication with the reservoir, the inlet passage having a first end in fluid communication with the valve cavity and a second end in a vicinity of a bottom of the reservoir, the inlet passage extending outside of the valve cavity along at least a part of the length of the valve cavity, an outlet passage for providing flow of the product from the valve to a dispensing outlet of the dispenser, and a movable valving member configured to be moved from a closed position to an open position to enable flow of the product through the dispensing outlet.
Yet another aspect is directed to a dispenser comprising: a container body including at least one inner wall and an outer wall defining a reservoir having a generally annular shape extending from a bottom end of the reservoir to a top end of the reservoir; a product contained in the reservoir; and a valve including a valve cavity located in the container body such that the generally annular reservoir surrounds the valve cavity and a top end of the valve cavity is in a vicinity of the top end of the reservoir, an inlet passage for providing flow of the product from the reservoir to the valve, an outlet passage for providing flow of the product from the valve to a dispensing outlet of the dispenser, and a movable valving member configured to be moved from a closed position to an open position to enable flow of the product through the dispensing outlet.
An even further aspect relates to a dispenser comprising: a dispensing outlet on an upper portion of the dispenser, a container body defining a reservoir, the container body including an element defining both a bottom end portion of the reservoir, and a bottom end portion of a valve cavity; a product contained in the reservoir; and a valve including the valve cavity having the bottom portion defined by the element, an inlet passage for providing flow of the product from the reservoir to the valve, an outlet passage for providing flow of the product from the valve to the dispensing outlet, and a movable valving member configured to be moved from a closed position to an open position to enable flow of the product through the dispensing outlet.
There are a variety of different types of products that could be contained in the reservoir. In one embodiment, the product includes at least one pharmaceutical composition. The product could include at least one of a vaccine, a hormone, and a drug. When the product includes a vaccine, the vaccine could be for at least one of flu, rubella, mumps, measles, tuberculosis, tetanus, diphtheria, polio, cholera, plague, rabies, malaria, and leprosy. When the product includes a drug, the drug could be a drug for treating at least one of diabetes, migraine, headache, a lung condition, a bronchial condition, asthma, an allergy, and a cardiovascular condition. The product could include at least one antibiotic.
The product in the reservoir could include at least one sun care product chosen from a sun screen product, a moisturizing product, and an after sun product.
The product could also include at least one cosmetic product. The product could be a product chosen from shaving foam, shaving gel, hair styling mousse, hair spray, and toothpaste.
An additional aspect relates to a method of dispensing a product. In the method, the dispenser is provided and the valving member is moved to the open position to dispense product from the dispense. The dispensed product is directed toward a portion of an individual, such as the mouth, nose, skin, and/or hair.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.